Swift’s Electric Rifle,” naming the device after his fictional childhood hero. In 1965, amid political turmoil, a Massachusetts inventor filed a patent for a “a long-range device that worked like an electrified supersoaker.” None of those, of course, materialized.īut it was in 1974 that Jack Cover, a NASA researcher, developed “Thomas A. In 1935 NYPD cops pondered an “electric glove” to replace the regular billyclub. The earliest electric defense devices were cattle prods, whose long barrels carried electrified prongs meant to stun cows through their thick hides. Using electricity for defense is something novel for an industry whose longevity may, to pardon the pun, shock. “(It’s) a companion you take with you, to provide a level of safety.” “You immediately associate it with, ‘I’m carrying it, and I’m pointing it at somebody or something.'” he says. The Bolt 2, Eastwood claims, looks more like a flashlight than anything. The new Bolt 2 continues to “consider the language of form,” Eastwood says, employing design-speak he’s carried across the automotive, sportswear and electronics industries in over 25 years. The original TASER Bolt was discontinued to make way for the arrival of the TASER Pulse in 2016, but consumer research continued to show the desire for a device that didn’t directly mimic the look of a firearm. The TASER Bolt, therefore, offered users the opportunity to neutralize an attacker entirely, without carrying anything resembling a firearm. “It almost looked like a shaver, or something like that.” Science has continually proven that the presence of a gun in any altercation greatly increases the chance of violence. “It was the kind of consumer product you might associate with non-self defense,” says Eastwood. The first incarnation of the TASER Bolt was something different than the Pulse you see today – this was slim with a contour shape, less evocative of a firearm. The Bolt 2 is packed with the same non-lethal stopping-power of the TASER Pulse and its law enforcement relatives – but in a comfortable, discreet form factor. The evolution of design: The original, now-retired, TASER Bolt/C2 pictured at top, a 3D-printed model of the new TASER Bolt 2 in middle, and the currently available TASER Pulse at bottom. Its twin probes can immobilize attackers for up to 30 seconds, providing ample time to retreat from a life-threatening situation, while simultaneously preserving an attacker’s life. The TASER Pulse, developed from the law enforcement ranges that still lead Axon’s research and development team, looks like a small pistol, despite weighing in at a mere eight ounces. “It’s sort of like sculpture for consumer goods.”Īxon knows well how design informs the use of its wide range of self-defense devices. It’s a “non-verbal story on how the device is going to be used, how it makes the user feel, what it relates to,” says Eastwood. Shape conveys deep meaning for us all – deeper when it’s employed in the design of devices used in some of the most tense encounters possible. But almost three years on, Eastwood has been instrumental in crafting the TASER Bolt 2, Axon’s latest, smartphone-connected edition of the world’s most popular non-lethal energy device. Other companies might offer their workers table tennis or an espresso machine.
“It really changed how I look at what we offer,” he says. “I didn’t experience any pain – I just couldn’t move.”įive seconds later Eastwood rose back to his feet, unscathed. “I had the experience of being completely incapacitated, 100 percent,” Eastwood says.
After a steadying breath, the employee squeezed the TASER device’s trigger, flinging two probes carrying a 50,000-volt charge in Eastwood’s direction.Įastwood fell into his companions’ arms almost instantly. Several feet away stood another, pointing a bright yellow TASER 7 non-lethal device right at him. Two colleagues were positioned either side of him. A few weeks after joining Axon in early 2019, industrial designer Mark Eastwood stood on a collection of foam mats in the atrium of the company’s Scottsdale, Arizona headquarters.
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